|
Social News 27/11
Airport
told to target smugglers
Ha Noi
Customs Department has told officials at
Smuggling
and trade fraud would become more sophisticated, especially when the new
airport terminal opened in January, said Nguyen Duc Minh, deputy head of the
airport's customs unit.
The
airport has become a hotbed for smugglers, especially drug traffickers, he
said.
Apart
from developing a plan to reduce illegal transporting, the airport would add
about 60 more customs officials to increase supervision of imported and
exported goods, he said.
Airport
customs officials would also co-ordinate with agencies such as the Northern
Airport Authority, Ha Noi police and the Ministry of Public Securities.
The Noi
Bai customs unit has handled 315 cases of smuggling and trade fraud so far
this year.
Female
drug trafficker gets life sentence
A local
woman in the
Nearly
five months ago, on July 4, the local police found 4kg of methamphetamine
during a raid in the house of Luc Thi Dang, 26, from
Dang
admitted that she had purchased the drugs from an unidentified person in Dai
Tan District (Guangxi, China) at the rate of VND130 million (US$6,250) per
kilogram, and had attempted to sell them at VND400 million (US$19,230) per
kilogram.
Dang
already had a criminal record for drug trafficking.
A
seminar focusing on the need to form a partnership group on social security
in connection with poverty reduction in
Participants
underscored the necessity to set up the group, which is expected to support
information sharing and policy dialogue coordination, and enhance the links
between separate partner groups operating in the field.
According
to MoLISA Deputy Minister Nguyen Trong Dam, the ministry has received
cooperation and assistance in many aspects from international partners and
non-governmental organisations.
However,
there has yet to have an effective and harmonious coordination mechanisms to
create strong change in the field, he added.
During
the event, attendees proposed ideas to build the group’s action plans,
stressing the need to have strong political commitments and involvement of
relevant parties.
The
seminar heard the four key fields that are being implemented within
The
system aims to increase income per capita in poor households by 3.5 times and
reduce the rate of low-income family to 1.5 -2 percent per year by 2020.
It will
also work to provide frequent social assistance to about 2.5 million people,
while supporting people suffering from natural disasters without delay.
According
to the ministry, in 2013,
At
present,
Kien
Giang vows to improve living conditions for ethnic minorities
The
Mekong Delta
The set
targets were told at the second Ethnic Minority Congress (2014 – 2019) in
Kien Giang on November 26.
The
congress saw the presence of Government Committee for Ethnic Minorities
Deputy Head Hoang Xuan Luong and 160 delegates representing over 250,000
ethnic people of the province.
Delegates
also mapped out some other goals including new classroom buildings in every
community; encouraging at least 96 percent of school-aged children to attend
schools; and providing vocational training for over 40 percent of working-age
population.
Kien
Giang province is home to 1.7 million people of 27 minorities, of which
ethnics account for 14.88 percent.
The
province has been bumping thousands of billion VND to develop infrastructure
and economy in far-flung areas where those people live, for example, the 200
billion VND (9.36 million USD) project to supply electricity for Khmer people
and the construction of a boarding school with an investment of 50 billion
VND (2.34 million USD) at the first phase.
In
addition, through a series of provincial efforts to reduce poverty, the
living standard of local ethnic people has been notably improved.
The
province currently has 9 communes and 11 hamlets under the government’s
poverty reduction Programme 135, compared to 18 communes and 12 hamlets in
2009.
Seminar
reviews impact of power plants on
The
standing office of the Vietnam National Mekong Committee held a consultation
seminar in
The
study, conducted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
(MONRE), examined overall environmental, economic and social impacts of the
construction and operation of hydropower projects on floodplain in the lower
Mekong River in Vietnam and Cambodia, said MONRE Deputy Minister Nguyen Thai
Lai.
The
30-month study surveyed more than 5 million ha of floodplain and 930,000ha of
delta in
Officials,
scientists and experts at the seminar said the study has included relatively
adequate data on hydro-meteorological, natural, waterway and socio-economic features
of the basin, and provided quantitative evaluations of power plants’ impacts.
It is
considered as an important source of data for members of the Mekong River
Commission to refer and cooperate towards the sustainable development of
water and relating resources.
The
commission said by 2013, there were at least 77 hydropower projects planned
on
Organizations
request transparent budget spending
A group
of development organizations headed by Oxfam has presented a petition
requiring transparency, accountability and participation of citizens in the
allocation, management and use of the State budget.
Formulated
with the assistance of the National Assembly’s (NA) Finance and Budget
Committee and after consulting 1,147 citizens and 408 State staffers in five
provinces, the petition is expected to be factored into the amended State
Budget Law which will be put on the table for NA deputies to discuss this
week.
The
first proposal is the law needs to clarify subjects and contents to be
publicized. The publicizing method must be applied in a way that could help
citizens understand, know and participate in the process and facilitate
access to publicized information.
Secondly,
in the amended law, citizens must have the right to directly and indirectly
involve in State budget allocations.
Thirdly,
citizens’ right to participate in the monitoring of the State budget management
and allocation must remain in the amended law.
Besides,
the law needs to have specific sanctions for violations against this
transparency mandate.
The
consultation results gave many proofs of ineffective and inappropriate use of
the State budget, limited participation of citizens, improper use and
allocations of the State budget for development, while the right to monitor
such processes by citizens has not been ensured.
The
publicizing of budget spending is formalistic and not convenient for citizens
to understand or express their opinions. The way information is supplied and
conveyed is not appropriate, while information is insufficient and
unintelligible and there is a lack of measures to assist citizens in getting
access to information they care about.
In some
localities, information about budget revenue collection and spending is not
delivered publicly and in details to citizens.
According
to the group’s survey conducted via the two news sites, Vietnamnet and
VnExpress, there are 12,000 people (95% of the respondents) agreeing on
publicizing budget estimates of all management levels and 8,600 (96%) wanting
public debts to be publicized.
The
group said in the petition that it appreciates openness and efforts of the
law drafting team as well as the evaluating team in taking into account
opinions of the communities and adding them to the draft amendment of the law
which is scheduled to be presented before the NA on November 25. The
consideration of proposals of citizens will help the law more realistic and
feasible, it said.
Development
organizations involved in this petition include Oxfam, the Action to the
Many
NA deputies want to maintain people’s councils
Many
National Assembly (NA) deputies at a NA session discussing the Law on the
Organization of Local Governments on November 24 suggested that the people’s
councils at all levels be maintained to ensure the supervision right of
citizens.
Deputy
Tran Ngoc Vinh from
Meanwhile,
Deputy Tran Minh Dieu from Quang Binh emphasized that the maintenance of both
people’s committees and councils at local levels is necessary to ensure a
balance between the power of authorities and the supervision of citizens.
Some
other NA deputies also voiced their concerns that piloting a model of local
governments without the people’s councils at levels of districts and wards is
not convincing enough, and this plan needs to be stopped soon.
However,
Deputy Tran Du Lich took the opposite stance, saying that the three-level
government apparatus is currently very cumbersome, and this will result in
failure to increase wages and improve social welfare.
Agreeing
with Lich, Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Thai Binh admitted that the State
apparatus is too bulky.
The
Prime Minister also advocated for the removal of grassroots people’s councils,
the Government Office said in a note. The elimination of the people’s
councils at districts and wards does not mean abandoning the representative
role of locals in supervising the people’s committees, as such tasks will be
assumed by provincial people’s councils, the Government leader stated.
In
certain cities and provinces, the model of district- and ward-level people’s
councils has been relinquished.
Transport
fees reduce in three big cities
The
Ministry of Finance on Tuesday announced that transport companies have cut
fares and freights in
Businesses
in
Taxi and
bus companies have reduced their fares by 2-10 percent and 5.8-10 percent
respectively. Cargo transport firms have lessened freight rates by 3.4-3.9
percent.
In HCMC,
several taxi firms have posted a reduction of 2.7-9 percent. Reduction rates
swing from 2 percent to 11.33 percent for passenger transport services.
In
Schools
enhance teaching life skills to students
Parents
of students in
Similarly,
students of
They
have been trained such trivial habits to have good manners which become
preparation for life.
Principal
of Le Quy Don Senior School Do Thi Bich Duyen said that the school has also
organized outside class activities including presenting gifts to the
underprivileged people in disadvantaged districts or playing with children in
orphan centers.
All
activities will help to cultivate sympathy with poor people in students, she
added.
Unlike
many people thinking about lessons for citizenship education as a ‘dried’
subject and hard to teach and learn, students of Bach Dang Junior High School
are interested in these lessons.
Teacher
Le Tuan Anh has provided lessons with social, legal and cultural knowledge
attached with vivid reality and practice. These lessons such as love for
parents, money saving and bad effects of playing games in internet become
good examples for life.
The
Department of Preventive Medicine under Vietnamese Ministry of Health sent a
dispatch to its sub-divisions asking to prevent mouse plague which was
recorded in some nations in the world.
The
departments of health have to monitor plague on wild animals especially
focusing on rodents as well as imported creatures into the country through
border crossings. Local governments should provide more information of the
disease to residents and urge them to clean the environment and food safety.
Those who suffer fever and ganglion should go to nearby medical clinics for
check.
Though
the country has had no case of plague for 12 years, the risk of spreading the
disease is greatly likely to enter the country. According to the World
Health Organization, the pandemic outbreak in
In
response to the mouse plague which is breaking out in
Despite
no sign of the plague on people and mouse in the country over 10 years, the
Department of Preventive Medicine said it would monitor the situation and
continuously update the information of the epidemic in
According
to the World Health Organization (WHO), the outbreak of the plague in
Cemeteries enveloped by urban sprawl
Due to
the fast pace of urbanisation, the sprawl has taken up land that was once
agricultural and even surrounded cemeteries.
In many
locations, the cemeteries are just a few steps away from residential blocks,
making for a strange cityscape. According to
In Quan
Hoa Ward,
People there
have learned to live alongside the graves, but on memorial days relatives
come to visit the graves, and smoke from incenses and burnt offerings waft
through whole area. Recently, the land has shown signs of contamination. The
residents are hoping local authorities will move the graves.
Many
such cemeteries have existed for a long time and covered in brush. They do
not meet environmental standards and are not maintained. As land encroachment
continues, many are choosing to build their own graves beforehand to reserve
the land.
A number
of elderly citizens of
Dutch
group to cycle throughout
A Dutch
group of four women will begin cycling to central and northern
The two
projects are dedicated to education, health, and sanitation for children and
women in
“We’ll
cycle 80km per day then we’ll take a rest, so we expect to reach
The
quartet, which is named R4WR (Ride 4 Women's Rights), has been friends for 17
years and all of them just earned a master’s degree last year.
They
have spent around 11 weeks since September cycling through six countries to
carry out their project intended to appeal for women's rights worldwide, R4WR
said.
The
other members include Lidewij Ponjee and Monique van der Veeken, both of whom
are also 24 years old.
Bettink
said the idea of cycling for women’s rights came up when Van Hoof and her
were sitting on a train someday last year and thinking about doing something
big, as the four already graduated at that time.
“We
wanted to travel, but not for ourselves,” Bettink said. “We wanted to do
something which we believe is important to stand up for.”
“We then
discussed what to fight for and decided that’s women’s rights,” she added.
Meanwhile,
Van Hoof said that during their study and travel, they have learned that
there are places where big differences between the two genders do exist and
girls suffer discrimination.
“We
think that it should be equal everywhere,” the Dutch woman added.
R4WR
said through 400 days of cycling, they plan to visit countries which have
been known by many people and places that are less famous in order to explore
the bigger meaning of women’s rights around the world.
Meeting
women in different cultures, R4WR hopes to contribute to the bettering of the
position of women of all ages globally by sharing stories they have got
during the journey.
R4WR are
expected to visit local women’s projects and pool stories about women’s
rights in three aspects: education, family planning, and gender equality.
The
group will then post them on their website at http://r4wr.org/ in the hope of
inspiring women the world over.
The
Dutch women revealed that they were confronted by difficulties when they
first started the project because people did not know them, plus some even
said frankly that they did not believe in the project’s feasibility.
“We feel
like we need to prove that the project is not simply a plan but we can
absolutely realize it,” Bettink said.
The
women have used their own money to fund the project, she added.
They
sometimes receive help from local people who invite them to stay in their
house for free, like a Dutch family living in
After
traveling 14,000km, R4WR will return to the
Bac Giang:
The
Vietnam-Korea Vocational College of Technology in northern Bac Giang province
officially inaugurated and launched its 2014-15 academic year on November 24.
The
opening ceremony saw the presence of Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social
Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen, Ambassador of the
Construction
of the school started in March 2012 with a total investment of 16 million
USD, including 10 million USD as non-refundable aid provided by the RoK
Government.
It
enrolled over 400 students for the majors of automobile technology,
electrics, electronics, mechanism and information technology for the 2014-15
academic year.
At the
event, Ambassador Jun Dae Joo described the inauguration of the school as a
manifestation of the growing cooperation between
He
expressed his hope that the school will provide high-quality, skilled human
resources for businesses nationwide.
On her
part, Minister Chuyen emphasised the need for the school to work together
with businesses and experienced engineers in designing curriculums to meet
market demands.
The
Vietnam-Korea Vocational College of Technology is among the 40 vocational
training centres nationwide selected to receive State investments to train
high-quality skilled labour for the country.
Factory
workers denounce employers for low-quality meals
Many
Vietnamese labourers have been complaining that factories are cutting back on
their meals to save money.
Tuan, a
worker in
Another
worker said, "They want high productivity, but they also are trying to
skimp on our meals. Extra shifts five days in a row already is a violation of
labour rules, but we still try our best. They should be understanding."
According
to the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in
On
October 27, nearly 1,000 workers from T.O. Company stopped working and
demanded that employers improve the meals. The workers, who worked six days a
week, complained of spoiled meat and vegetables. "If the cooks didn't
tell us that this is chicken and fish nobody would know what it was."
Even
though the labourers tried to report the issue multiple times, the problem
remained unsolved. Pregnant and women with small child are hardest-hit. Some
of them are forced to bring their own food to augment the meals. Nearly 4,000
workers at Vina Duke Company also stopped work for a week because their meals
were so small and unhygienic.
An
official of Hoc-Mon District Labour Union said, "Cutting meals will not
only have bad impact on employee health, but also sow the seeds for labour
disputes."
Japanese
technology brings hope for cancer patients in Vietnam
The
Japanese Grandsoul
Under
the agreement, Japanese health clinic Grandsoul Nara will transfer the new
cellular immunotherapy technology for the Hanoi Medical University (HMU).
Addressing
the signing ceremony, Prof. Ta Van Thanh, Vice Principal of the HMU,
highlighted the importance of research cooperation with
For his
part, President of Grandsoul Nara Dr. Takahiro Tsujimura said the company
would try its best to effectively cooperate with the Hanoi Medical in terms
of technology transfer, medical research and human resource training.
Over
9.5 million children get free measles-rubella shots
All 63
provinces and cities across
All
vaccine samples taken randomly at vaccinations sites in eight localities met
quality requirements and were delivered and preserved in standards
conditions, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and
Epidemiology Tran Nhu Duong said on November 26.
The
phase from September and October received support from local authorities but
encountered several difficulties in public awareness and communication,
especially in rural areas, Nhuong said, adding that it was under review so
that organisers could have an exact look on its outcomes as well as shortcomings.
The
campaign’s second phase is being held in November and December this year
while the third one will take place in January and February, 2015. Most of
children subject to these phases are primary and secondary students, added
Duong.
The free
vaccination campaign targets about 23 million children between 1 and 14 years
old throughout
It was
prompted by a measles epidemic that erupted in
Collective
bargaining helps to increase workers' wages
Collective
bargaining offered workers an opportunity to earn more than the minimum wage,
a key issue in
The ILO
and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs hosted the two-day
conference.
Participants
discussed
In a
market economy, collective bargaining and setting a minimum wage complemented
each other, the ILO said in the brief, which cited the ASEAN Community
report.
The
brief added that this was a key issue to the development of sound industrial
relations in
Pham
Minh Huan, deputy minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and
chairman of the National Wage Council, said that with the establishment of
the council in 2013,
The
council gave trade unions' representatives and employers' representatives a
direct stake in minimum wage negotiations and recommendations.
So far,
both collective wage bargaining and regular enterprises-level dialogue is
uncommon in the country.
"Improving
the legal and institutional framework for collective bargaining and
democratic representation for workers, and strengthening the capacity of
employers' and workers' organisations to engage in effective collective
agreement are all critical," Huan said.
About
one-third of workers in
Labour
officials said the amount of salaried workers in
Malte
Luebke, the ILO's senior regional wage specialist, said that while half of
working people made a living with agriculture, little more than a tenth of
salaried employees worked in the sector.
Agricultural
work offers one of the lowest average monthly wages – VND2.6 million
(US$125), compared with financial intermediation, banking and insurance
sector workers, where workers earn about VND7.2 million ($344) per month,
according to the Labour Force Survey 2013.
Participants
at the conference also discussed disparities in the amount men and women
earn. Although the overall gender pay gap in
However,
in the sectors with the highest wages, financial intermediation, banking and
insurance, and technologies and sciences, female workers are paid 3.4 and 1.4
per cent more than their colleagues, respectively, according to the ILO
brief.
In 2012,
average monthly wages in
The
large wage discrepancies between ASEAN member states reflected substantial
differences in a number of factors, including labour productivity, Luebke
said.
As
countries adopt new technologies, invest in infrastructure, encourage
structural reforms and improve the skills of their workforce, they lay the
foundation for enterprises to become more efficient and to move into activities
with higher returns, Luebke said.
Officials
at the conference said
Source: VNN/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/ND
|
Thứ Tư, 26 tháng 11, 2014
Đăng ký:
Đăng Nhận xét (Atom)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét